The present invention relates generally to remotely monitored security systems that have audio monitoring capability and, more particularly, to a device and method for providing a control system for a monitoring station that provides a common or universal operator interface.
A remotely monitored security system comprises a central monitoring station and, at each monitored premises, a local control unit connected to one or more detectors. The detectors are placed at strategic points in the monitored area, such as doors and windows. Upon the occurrence of an event, such as the opening of a door or window, the local control unit alerts personnel at the monitoring center and transmits an identifying serial number. The telephone network is typically the medium over which the alert is transmitted. The personnel at the monitoring center can then respond to the situation by taking appropriate action. Such action typically includes dispatching security personnel or police to the premises.
False alarms are a serious problem in security systems. Not only does dispatching security personnel or police in response to a false alarm waste resources, but in many communities it subjects property owners to fines if police are repeatedly summoned. To avoid such problems, security systems may provide additional information following the initial alert to aid monitoring personnel in distinguishing false alarms from alarms occurring in response to actual events that the security system is intended to detect. For example, a security system may provide information identifying the premises and the type and location of the particular detector that triggered the alarm. The central monitoring station computer uses the serial number received from the local control unit to retrieve such information, which is stored in a database. The computer typically displays the information on a video screen.
The additional information may also include sounds occurring at the premises immediately following the initial alert. A security system may have one or more microphones placed at strategic locations in the premises. Via the telephone connection established by the activation of the alarm, monitoring personnel can transmit commands that enable them to listen to sounds on the premises. In so-called "two-way voice" security systems that have one or more speakers placed at strategic locations in the structure, monitoring personnel can transmit commands that enable them to speak to those on the premises. This allows monitoring personnel to verify the alarm situation by issuing a verbal challenge to those on the premises. If the security system includes multiple microphones or speakers, monitoring personnel may also transmit commands to select the microphone or speaker with which they desire to establish audio communication. Still other commands allow monitoring personnel to switch the gain of a microphone at the monitored premises between a high and a low level.
Security systems that allow monitoring personnel to hear sounds occurring at the premises may also include audio recording or storage devices at the monitored premises for storing any sounds that may have occurred immediately preceding the activation of the alarm. Such "stored-audio" systems commonly have a continuous-loop digital storage medium located on the monitored premises. The security system continuously records ambient sound until the alarm is activated. Monitoring personnel can transmit commands to play back the recorded sounds. Stored-audio systems may allow monitoring personnel to remotely select either the stored audio or the "live" audio captured in real-time by the microphones.
Security systems with which monitoring personnel can interact by transmitting commands thus allow monitoring personnel to deduce the nature of an alarm and tailor their actions accordingly. Should the alarm activation be confirmed as harmless, the response protocol can be terminated at a relatively early stage without unnecessary expenditure of scarce resources.
The central control unit at the remote monitoring center typically includes a conventional multi-line telephone instrument that has a 12-key telephone keypad on which monitoring personnel may enter commands to perform the desired functions at the monitored premises. Each command is initiated by one or more keystrokes that the telephone instrument transmits in dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) format to the local control unit at the monitored premises. The local control unit at the monitored premises includes a DTMF decoder for translating the DTMF signals into signals that activate the desired functions.
A security system having a local control unit that receives and performs functions in response to DTMF signals may have one or more of the above-described functions, i.e., one-way voice, two-way voice, stored audio, individually selectable microphones, microphone gain control, and individually selectable speakers. One or more commands may be associated with each of these functions. For example, a system having a two-way voice function may have a "TALK" command and a "LISTEN" command. The security systems produced by different manufacturers, however, do not necessarily assign the same commands to the same keys on the telephone keypad: A system having a two-way voice feature may, for example, assign the "TALK" command to the "1" key; another system having the same feature may assign the "TALK" command to the "5" key; and still another system may assign the "TALK" command to the keystroke sequence "23". One system may require personnel to enter a keystroke once to initiate a command and enter it again to cancel the command, while another system may continue to perform the command initiated by the keystroke until a different keystroke is entered.
A monitoring center may monitor security systems having various functions and/or key assignments for the commands associated with those functions. The absence of any standardization among remote monitoring security systems is frustrating to monitoring personnel who must simultaneously monitor and, using the telephone keypad at their console, operate many local control units, each possibly having its own unique set of functions, commands, and keystrokes. Critical time may be lost in responding to an alarm if monitoring personnel are not thoroughly familiar with the operation of each of the security systems they monitor.
To mitigate the problem of absence of standardization, security systems have been developed that, in response to an alarm, display instructions on the video console at the monitoring center that are specific to the system transmitting the alarm. The instructions provide monitoring personnel with information regarding the features present in the system transmitting the alarm, the functions that the system can perform, and the correspondence between the keys on the keypad and the commands that execute those functions. Nevertheless, this method requires time for monitoring personnel to read the instructions and understand them.
It would be desirable to provide monitoring personnel with a common or universal interface between their control panels and monitored security systems having various combinations of functions, commands and key assignments. These problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by the present invention in the manner described below.